From blank page to solid speech in 5 steps

Let’s face it—the most difficult part of creating a good presentation is deciding what to say. The second most difficult is actually saying it. Writers often speak (or write about) writer's block also known as the tyranny of the blank page. I can relate. Many speakers can. For me, it is sometimes the tyranny of the blank brain! However you decide to name the affliction, a good outline can be a potent cure. Here is an easy 5-step process to get you from blank page (or brain) to a solid outline ready for refinement and rehearsal into a solid speech.Let us begin.

1. Decide on your goal

I have said before that your presentation stands on 2 legs – content and delivery. This was one of my magic numbers speakers must know. However, both these legs stand on the solid ground of something else – your goals and your audience.A lot of speakers get caught up too early by asking the wrong questions. They ask – “what am I going to say”. They jump to content. Instead, they should be asking a different question - “what am I trying to achieve?”

They ask – “what am I going to say” – they jump to content- instead of asking “what am I trying to achieve?”

The latter is a much better question because it predates the former.Without knowing what you are trying to achieve, how can you decide what you are going to say?That is a like an engineer deciding on the materials for a machine without first clarifying what the machine is going to be used for. Cardboard tea-kettle anyone?The idea is not a difficult one – what your speech is aiming to achieve determines

1. what material you use (content) and

2. how you present it (delivery).

Or in other words, function determines fashion.So the first step in going from a blank brain to the beginnings of a killer presentation is a question – What do I want to achieve?And now for the next step.

2. Get clear on the audience

No presentation will work 100% of the time with the same level of success for every audience. I don’t care how “good” the presentation is or how hard you worked on it. It would be even better if you tailor it to the audience.

Your audience has a big say in what you say no matter what anybody says.

Unfortunately, the audience is also usually the most quiet in the room while you are speaking. How on earth do you solve this conundrum?The answer is to listen to the audience ahead of time. That is, think about who the audience is – their interests, their goals, their motivations, their frustrations etc. Better still, if you can, simply ask them!Once you have completed step 1 and determined your goal, the next step is to determine how (and if) you can achieve that goal with this specific audience.

Here’s the question to ask at this step – Who is my audience?

3. Build a core message

Ok so you know what you are trying to do and with whom. Great! Now what do you do?Well, you need a core message.“Anthony, what’s a core message?” you ask. I’ll tell you!A core message is the central point of your presentation. It is what you want the audience to leave with by the time you are done.

You want a solid presentation, after all, not a gaseous one. Nobody likes a speaker with gas.

You might be having difficulty arriving at a core message.One way to get around this is to, (you guessed it) ask a question – If my audience heard this speech and had to give it a title afterwards – what do I want that title to be?

Here are some examples of core messages I have helped clients develop

• Your health is your greatest asset

• Life is too short to live with regret

• Our product is the perfect fit for your company

Sometimes, the words “your” or “our” in the examples above may be expressed as “my” or “this” as in “my health” or “this product”. But you get the idea.Spend time on clarifying and refining your core message. A strong core helps your presentation stand up. It also makes you presentation solid and coherent.You want a solid presentation, after all, not a gaseous one. Nobody likes a speaker with gas.And now on to the next step.

4. Build some supporting ideas and evidence

A message is a point. Ideas make it into a sketch and supporting evidence makes it a picture.If all you needed was a core message, your presentation would be 3 seconds long.“We now welcome Mr. Littral to the stage.”*Clears throat* “Thank you. Our product is the perfect fit for your company. Thank you” *Walks back to seat*Guess who’s not getting the business that day?

A message is a point. Ideas make it into a sketch and supporting evidence makes it a picture.

Your core message, like an apple needs flesh to be palatable.It needs supporting points and those supporting points need evidence.For Mr. Littral a very simplified form of some supporting ideas might be

• Your company could benefit from more powerful data reporting (share a short anecdote about the company and the impact of data reporting i.e add evidence)

• Our software delivers that to you (show how, perhaps with a demo i.e. evidence)

• You can afford us so it’s a no-brainer (show charts of possible return on investment scenarios)

Again, very simplified, but you get the idea.

The questions – what ideas will lead most effortlessly to the core message I want? And what types of evidence can support those ideas?

If you are wondering how to arrange these points, you can read this article. Good! Now, you have gone from a blank page to a coherent selection of content. Now on to step 5.

5. Write an introduction and conclusion

Questions for your introduction: How do I start in a way that gets attention, introduces my content and establishes my credibility?

These are the three fundamental functions of a good speech introduction. You can read more about techniques for starting your speeches and mistakes to avoid here. As for concluding, be sure to end with the core message in some form. This is because, the conclusion is most likely to be what the audience remembers the most – use that to your advantage. Even if you have a question and answer session, make sure you still have a conclusion afterwards to reinforce your core message.

Question for your conclusion - What do I want the audience to do / remember?

Now go do it!

There you go! How easy was that! OK, admittedly, it may not always be easy. But the advantage of working in this way is that it delivers you from the tyranny of the blank brain. It directs your efforts smartly and saves you time and energy (and embarrassment). With the outline you create this way, you will not only have a solid presentation, but you will also be more likely to remember it and will have confidence in delivering your message.Until the next article, speak with skill!